Utensils makeover

I have shared several examples of making over various plastic and wooden things, for instance, wooden objects, jars and pots, adding labels to wooden bottles, and in fact if I think back, my very first kitchen things were plastic Barbie pots and bowls that I painted metallic.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a set of plastic kitchen things in a charity shop.

 

Because I have learned some lessons, the first thing I did was check whether there were any marks signalling rare collectibles, but there weren't any. I also checked with my miniature group, and nobody recognised it. (If you tell me now that it is rare collectibles, it's too late). I also consulted my group concerning the question of whether leave them as they were or paint them, for instance, copper. Leaving them as they were, I could put them in my retro house, where the kitchen is already filled with stuff, including rare collectibles, and anyway, there is more challenge in upcycling things.

It was quite clear with the bucket: I simply painted it metallic. I will probably add some rust to it. I painted the frying pan black, and after some considerations I painted the roasting pan black too. I can't remember seeing a copper roasting pan. The two other pans I painted copper on the outside and metallic on the inside, because that's what my copperware looks like.

Now all these things can go into my Victorian kitchen. It is also full of stuff, but there is room for more. The "real" copper pans, made of copper coins, are in the best kitchen, but these can go into the working kitchen. In any case, I am pleased with the result.

Another stunning chandelier

As I have accounted for, I once again spent a fortune in a dollhouse shop in Stockholm, and I have already shown what I did with one of the three chandeliers I bought.

I was reluctant to start on the next because I knew it involved removing a permanently fixed wooden floor in the room above. But I also knew it was inevitable because what's the use of a beautiful chandelier if it isn't put up in a room?

So here is the story of how I replaced a 50p plastic Christmas ornament with a £150 19th-century pewter chandelier of exquisite beauty.

 

 Mind, there is nothing wrong with the Christmas ornament. I like it, it fits very well into this room, and I have had it ever since I started making dollhouses, ten years ago. It has served me well, and I will probably use it in another project. I always feel bad about replacing an old faithful object. But now I had this magnificent chandelier, and it was going into this room because that's where it belonged.

I have already described the procedure of replacing ceiling lights. First, I removed all objects in the room above. I don't fix small objects on tables because I don't want to spoil the surfaces, but every time I evacuate a room all the tiny cups and plates and cakes and fruit come flying all over. I tell myself that I probably should fix them after all, but I won't because I have seen what happens to a fine table top after a cup has been fixed with a sticky dot.

Anyway, I removed the objects and tried to pull out the floor without removing the skirting boards, but of course I had done the job well, because I was sure everything was permanent. I managed to lift the floor just enough to get hold of the wire from which the chandelier was hanging. Halfway done, the old chandelier removed.

The next step was to attach a wire to the new chandelier and feed the wire through the hole. I use very thin wire of the kind you get around wine bottles. It can then be threaded into a large darning needle and drawn through the hole. Only the needle was too long for the narrow space.

To make a long story short, it was a long story. I would have needed another pair of hands. But here is the result:

It is very difficult to take a good picture that does justice to this magnificent piece. Trust me, I have taken a dozen. Here is a close-up that at least gives a better idea:

 

I will need to fix the candles better as they tend to fall off. And I wonder whether this chandelier now demands a different ceiling rose. As always, each improvement demands the next step.

If you wonder how the floor in the room above fared after this, there were some problems which I don't even want to discuss. I went to bed desperate, after putting the heaviest dictionary I could find on the newly re-attached floor. It looked fine in the morning, and all objects went back again. I have lost count of how many times things have been taken out and back again in each room. But if I had waited until "everything was finished" I would probably still have had empty rooms.